Positional state identification of mobile devices

ABSTRACT

One or more systems and/or methods for identifying a positional state of a mobile device are provided. An output audio pulse may be generated from a speaker of a mobile device. An input audio pulse, corresponding to the output audio pulse, may be detected utilizing a microphone of the mobile device. The output audio pulse and the input audio pulse may be evaluated to determine a positional feature associated with the mobile device. The positional feature may be evaluated using a classifier to identify a positional state of the mobile device (e.g., the mobile device may be laying on a table, inside a user&#39;s jacket pocket, within a vehicle, etc.). In an example, an operating characteristic of the mobile device may be adjusted based on the positional state of the mobile device (e.g., a ringer volume may be increased, a content recommendation may be displayed, etc.).

BACKGROUND

Many users may own and/or interact with mobile devices. In an example, auser may read an electronic book on a tablet. In another example, theuser may navigate to a new location using a map application on a smartphone. A mobile device may transition between various positional statesduring a day, such as being carried around in a pocket, being placedface up on a table, being left in a parked car, being carried around ina bag while on a hike, etc. Such positional states may be indicative ofcontent that may be interesting to the user (e.g., a recommendation of ahiking destination when hiking), an efficient means of notifying oralerting the user of information (e.g., a loud audio notification may bemore efficient in getting the user's attention than a vibrationnotification while the mobile device is in the bag during hiking,whereas a quiet audio notification or the vibration notification may bemore appropriate while the user is in a meeting with the mobile deviceon a meeting room desk), and/or efficient resource consumption (e.g.,transitioning the mobile device into a low powered state while in theparked car). Unfortunately, many computing devices and/or contentprovides may lack technology that can determine a positional state of amobile device, which may result in ineffective communication with theuser (e.g., a notification that does not alert the user of information)and/or inefficient resource consumption of the mobile device that canlead to reduced battery life.

SUMMARY

In accordance with the present disclosure, one or more systems and/ormethods for identifying a positional state of a mobile device areprovided. An output audio pulse may be generated from a speaker of amobile device. In an example, the output audio pulse may be emitted atan ultrasonic frequency, an infrasonic frequency, or any otherfrequency. An input audio pulse, corresponding to the output audiopulse, may be detected utilizing a microphone of the mobile device. Theoutput audio pulse and the input audio pulse may be evaluated todetermine a positional feature associated with the mobile device. In anexample, the output audio signal and the input audio signal may beevaluated by comparing an output amplitude of the output audio pulsewith an input amplitude of the input audio pulse to determine thepositional feature. In another example, the output audio signal and theinput audio signal may be evaluated by identifying the positionalfeature based upon a time period between the generation of the outputaudio pulse and the detection of the input audio pulse. The positionalfeature may be evaluated using a classifier to identify a positionalstate of the mobile device. In an example, user feedback may be obtainedcorresponding to the adjustment of the operating characteristic. Theclassifier may be trained based upon the user feedback.

In an example, an operating characteristic of the mobile device may beadjusted based on the positional state of the mobile device. Theadjusting the operating characteristic (e.g., a power characteristic, anotification characteristic, a data usage characteristic, a processingcharacteristic, an application management characteristic, etc.) maycomprise modifying an operation of at least one of a display (e.g., ascreen may be dimmed, a message or recommendation may be displayed onthe display), an audio component (e.g., increasing a volume), a vibrator(e.g., switching vibration on or off), a processor (e.g., transitioningthe processor from a higher power state to a lower powered state), acamera, a communication module of the mobile device (e.g., a Bluetoothmodule may be turned off or on), etc. For example, adjusting theoperating characteristic may comprise adjusting a notification type of anotification (e.g., displaying a text notification as opposed to anaudio notification so as not to disturb a meeting in which a user hasplaced the mobile device on a conference room table), a volume level ofan audio notification, and/or a vibration level of a vibrationnotification. In another example, responsive to the positional stateindicating that the mobile device is contained within at least one of acontainer, a bag, or a pocket, the mobile device may be transitionedfrom a first power state (e.g., a performance mode) to a second powerstate (e.g., a power save mode), wherein the second power state has alower power consumption than the first power state.

In an example, user interest information may be identified based uponthe positional state of the mobile device. The user interest informationmay correspond to an interest (e.g., outdoor activities, Clevelandfootball team, etc.) of the user and/or an activity of the user (e.g.,walking, biking, etc.). Content may be obtained that corresponds to theuser interest information (e.g., a location of nearby bike shop, anadvertisement for a soccer ball, etc.). The content may be provided tothe mobile device.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

While the techniques presented herein may be embodied in alternativeforms, the particular embodiments illustrated in the drawings are only afew examples that are supplemental of the description provided herein.These embodiments are not to be interpreted in a limiting manner, suchas limiting the claims appended hereto.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a scenario involving various examples ofnetworks that may connect servers and clients.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a scenario involving an exampleconfiguration of a server that may utilize and/or implement at least aportion of the techniques presented herein.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of a scenario involving an exampleconfiguration of a client that may utilize and/or implement at least aportion of the techniques presented herein.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating an example method of identifying apositional state of a mobile device.

FIG. 5A is a component block diagram illustrating an example system foridentifying a positional state of a mobile device.

FIG. 5B is a component block diagram illustrating an example system foridentifying a positional state of a mobile device, where the mobiledevice is within a bag.

FIG. 6 is a component block diagram illustrating an example system foridentifying a positional state of a mobile device, wherein a smartphoneis in a pocket of a user.

FIG. 7A is a component block diagram illustrating an example system foridentifying a positional state of a mobile device, wherein a smartphoneis sitting on a surface of a desk.

FIG. 7B is a component block diagram illustrating an example system foridentifying a positional state of a mobile device, wherein a smartphoneis in a desk drawer and provides an audio notification.

FIG. 7C is a component block diagram illustrating an example system foridentifying a positional state of a mobile device, wherein a smartphoneis in a desk drawer and provides a notification on a secondary device.

FIG. 8 is a component block diagram illustrating an example system foridentifying a positional state of a mobile device, wherein the mobiledevice is in a bag inside a car.

FIG. 9A is a component block diagram illustrating an example system foridentifying a positional state of a mobile device, wherein the mobiledevice is being held by a user.

FIG. 9B is a component block diagram illustrating an example system foridentifying a positional state of a mobile device, wherein content isselected.

FIG. 10 is an illustration of a scenario featuring an examplenontransitory memory device in accordance with one or more of theprovisions set forth herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Subject matter will now be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, andwhich show, by way of illustration, specific example embodiments. Thisdescription is not intended as an extensive or detailed discussion ofknown concepts. Details that are known generally to those of ordinaryskill in the relevant art may have been omitted, or may be handled insummary fashion.

The following subject matter may be embodied in a variety of differentforms, such as methods, devices, components, and/or systems.Accordingly, this subject matter is not intended to be construed aslimited to any example embodiments set forth herein. Rather, exampleembodiments are provided merely to be illustrative. Such embodimentsmay, for example, take the form of hardware, software, firmware, or anycombination thereof.

1. Computing Scenario

The following provides a discussion of some types of computing scenariosin which the disclosed subject matter may be utilized and/orimplemented.

1.1. Networking

FIG. 1 is an interaction diagram of a scenario 100 illustrating aservice 102 provided by a set of servers 104 to a set of client devices110 via various types of networks. The servers 104 and/or client devices110 may be capable of transmitting, receiving, processing, and/orstoring many types of signals, such as in memory as physical memorystates.

The servers 104 of the service 102 may be internally connected via alocal area network 106 (LAN), such as a wired network where networkadapters on the respective servers 104 are interconnected via cables(e.g., coaxial and/or fiber optic cabling), and may be connected invarious topologies (e.g., buses, token rings, meshes, and/or trees). Theservers 104 may be interconnected directly, or through one or more othernetworking devices, such as routers, switches, and/or repeaters. Theservers 104 may utilize a variety of physical networking protocols(e.g., Ethernet and/or Fibre Channel) and/or logical networkingprotocols (e.g., variants of an Internet Protocol (IP), a TransmissionControl Protocol (TCP), and/or a User Datagram Protocol (UDP). The localarea network 106 may include, e.g., analog telephone lines, such as atwisted wire pair, a coaxial cable, full or fractional digital linesincluding T1, T2, T3, or T4 type lines, Integrated Services DigitalNetworks (ISDNs), Digital Subscriber Lines (DSLs), wireless linksincluding satellite links, or other communication links or channels,such as may be known to those skilled in the art. The local area network106 may be organized according to one or more network architectures,such as server/client, peer-to-peer, and/or mesh architectures, and/or avariety of roles, such as administrative servers, authenticationservers, security monitor servers, data stores for objects such as filesand databases, business logic servers, time synchronization servers,and/or front-end servers providing a user-facing interface for theservice 102.

Likewise, the local area network 106 may comprise one or moresub-networks, such as may employ differing architectures, may becompliant or compatible with differing protocols and/or may interoperatewithin the local area network 106. Additionally, a variety of local areanetworks 106 may be interconnected; e.g., a router may provide a linkbetween otherwise separate and independent local area networks 106.

In the scenario 100 of FIG. 1, the local area network 106 of the service102 is connected to a wide area network 108 (WAN) that allows theservice 102 to exchange data with other services 102 and/or clientdevices 110. The wide area network 108 may encompass variouscombinations of devices with varying levels of distribution andexposure, such as a public wide-area network (e.g., the Internet) and/ora private network (e.g., a virtual private network (VPN) of adistributed enterprise).

In the scenario 100 of FIG. 1, the service 102 may be accessed via thewide area network 108 by a user 112 of one or more client devices 110,such as a portable media player (e.g., an electronic text reader, anaudio device, or a portable gaming, exercise, or navigation device); aportable communication device (e.g., a camera, a phone, a wearable or atext chatting device); a workstation; and/or a laptop form factorcomputer. The respective client devices 110 may communicate with theservice 102 via various connections to the wide area network 108. As afirst such example, one or more client devices 110 may comprise acellular communicator and may communicate with the service 102 byconnecting to the wide area network 108 via a wireless local areanetwork 106 provided by a cellular provider. As a second such example,one or more client devices 110 may communicate with the service 102 byconnecting to the wide area network 108 via a wireless local areanetwork 106 provided by a location such as the user's home or workplace(e.g., a WiFi network or a Bluetooth personal area network). In thismanner, the servers 104 and the client devices 110 may communicate overvarious types of networks. Other types of networks that may be accessedby the servers 104 and/or client devices 110 include mass storage, suchas network attached storage (NAS), a storage area network (SAN), orother forms of computer or machine readable media.

1.2. Server Configuration

FIG. 2 presents a schematic architecture diagram 200 of a server 104that may utilize at least a portion of the techniques provided herein.Such a server 104 may vary widely in configuration or capabilities,alone or in conjunction with other servers, in order to provide aservice such as the service 102.

The server 104 may comprise one or more processors 210 that processinstructions. The one or more processors 210 may optionally include aplurality of cores; one or more coprocessors, such as a mathematicscoprocessor or an integrated graphical processing unit (GPU); and/or oneor more layers of local cache memory. The server 104 may comprise memory202 storing various forms of applications, such as an operating system204; one or more server applications 206, such as a hypertext transportprotocol (HTTP) server, a file transfer protocol (FTP) server, or asimple mail transport protocol (SMTP) server; and/or various forms ofdata, such as a database 208 or a file system. The server 104 maycomprise a variety of peripheral components, such as a wired and/orwireless network adapter 214 connectible to a local area network and/orwide area network; one or more storage components 216, such as a harddisk drive, a solid-state storage device (SSD), a flash memory device,and/or a magnetic and/or optical disk reader.

The server 104 may comprise a mainboard featuring one or morecommunication buses 212 that interconnect the processor 210, the memory202, and various peripherals, using a variety of bus technologies, suchas a variant of a serial or parallel AT Attachment (ATA) bus protocol; aUniform Serial Bus (USB) protocol; and/or Small Computer SystemInterface (SCI) bus protocol. In a multibus scenario, a communicationbus 212 may interconnect the server 104 with at least one other server.Other components that may optionally be included with the server 104(though not shown in the schematic diagram 200 of FIG. 2) include adisplay; a display adapter, such as a graphical processing unit (GPU);input peripherals, such as a keyboard and/or mouse; and a flash memorydevice that may store a basic input/output system (BIOS) routine thatfacilitates booting the server 104 to a state of readiness.

The server 104 may operate in various physical enclosures, such as adesktop or tower, and/or may be integrated with a display as an“all-in-one” device. The server 104 may be mounted horizontally and/orin a cabinet or rack, and/or may simply comprise an interconnected setof components. The server 104 may comprise a dedicated and/or sharedpower supply 218 that supplies and/or regulates power for the othercomponents. The server 104 may provide power to and/or receive powerfrom another server and/or other devices. The server 104 may comprise ashared and/or dedicated climate control unit 220 that regulates climateproperties, such as temperature, humidity, and/or airflow. Many suchservers 104 may be configured and/or adapted to utilize at least aportion of the techniques presented herein.

1.3. Client Device Configuration

FIG. 3 presents a schematic architecture diagram 300 of a client device110 whereupon at least a portion of the techniques presented herein maybe implemented. Such a client device 110 may vary widely inconfiguration or capabilities, in order to provide a variety offunctionality to a user such as the user 112. The client device 110 maybe provided in a variety of form factors, such as a desktop or towerworkstation; an “all-in-one” device integrated with a display 308; alaptop, tablet, convertible tablet, or palmtop device; a wearable devicemountable in a headset, eyeglass, earpiece, and/or wristwatch, and/orintegrated with an article of clothing; and/or a component of a piece offurniture, such as a tabletop, and/or of another device, such as avehicle or residence. The client device 110 may serve the user in avariety of roles, such as a workstation, kiosk, media player, gamingdevice, and/or appliance.

The client device 110 may comprise one or more processors 310 thatprocess instructions. The one or more processors 210 may optionallyinclude a plurality of cores; one or more coprocessors, such as amathematics coprocessor or an integrated graphical processing unit(GPU); and/or one or more layers of local cache memory. The clientdevice 110 may comprise memory 301 storing various forms ofapplications, such as an operating system 303; one or more userapplications 302, such as document applications, media applications,file and/or data access applications, communication applications such asweb browsers and/or email clients, utilities, and/or games; and/ordrivers for various peripherals. The client device 110 may comprise avariety of peripheral components, such as a wired and/or wirelessnetwork adapter 306 connectible to a local area network and/or wide areanetwork; one or more output components, such as a display 308 coupledwith a display adapter (optionally including a graphical processing unit(GPU)), a sound adapter coupled with a speaker, and/or a printer; inputdevices for receiving input from the user, such as a keyboard 310, amouse, a microphone, a camera, and/or a touch-sensitive component of thedisplay 308; and/or environmental sensors, such as a global positioningsystem (GPS) receiver 312 that detects the location, velocity, and/oracceleration of the client device 110, a compass, accelerometer, and/orgyroscope that detects a physical orientation of the client device 110.Other components that may optionally be included with the client device110 (though not shown in the schematic diagram 300 of FIG. 3) includeone or more storage components, such as a hard disk drive, a solid-statestorage device (SSD), a flash memory device, and/or a magnetic and/oroptical disk reader; and/or a flash memory device that may store a basicinput/output system (BIOS) routine that facilitates booting the clientdevice 110 to a state of readiness; and a climate control unit thatregulates climate properties, such as temperature, humidity, andairflow.

The client device 110 may comprise a mainboard featuring one or morecommunication buses 312 that interconnect the processor 310, the memory301, and various peripherals, using a variety of bus technologies, suchas a variant of a serial or parallel AT Attachment (ATA) bus protocol;the Uniform Serial Bus (USB) protocol; and/or the Small Computer SystemInterface (SCI) bus protocol. The client device 110 may comprise adedicated and/or shared power supply 318 that supplies and/or regulatespower for other components, and/or a battery 304 that stores power foruse while the client device 110 is not connected to a power source viathe power supply 318. The client device 110 may provide power to and/orreceive power from other client devices.

In some scenarios, as a user 112 interacts with a software applicationon a client device 110 (e.g., an instant messenger and/or electronicmail application), descriptive content in the form of signals or storedphysical states within memory (e.g., an email address, instant messengeridentifier, phone number, postal address, message content, date, and/ortime) may be identified. Descriptive content may be stored, typicallyalong with contextual content. For example, the source of a phone number(e.g., a communication received from another user via an instantmessenger application) may be stored as contextual content associatedwith the phone number. Contextual content, therefore, may identifycircumstances surrounding receipt of a phone number (e.g., the date ortime that the phone number was received), and may be associated withdescriptive content. Contextual content, may, for example, be used tosubsequently search for associated descriptive content. For example, asearch for phone numbers received from specific individuals, receivedvia an instant messenger application or at a given date or time, may beinitiated. The client device 110 may include one or more servers thatmay locally serve the client device 110 and/or other client devices ofthe user 112 and/or other individuals. For example, a locally installedwebserver may provide web content in response to locally submitted webrequests. Many such client devices 110 may be configured and/or adaptedto utilize at least a portion of the techniques presented herein.

2. Presented Techniques

One or more systems and/or techniques for identifying a positional stateof a mobile device are provided. Many mobile devices may lack detectiontechniques and/or functionality to determine a positional state of amobile device and/or the ability to adjust operating characteristics ofthe mobile device based on the positional state. As provided herein, anoutput audio pulse may be generated from a speaker of a mobile deviceand an input audio pulse, corresponding to the output audio pulse, maybe detected utilizing a microphone of the mobile device. The outputaudio pulse and the input audio pulse may be evaluated to determine apositional feature (e.g., audio characteristics and/or valuescorresponding to the output audio pulse and the input audio pulse)associated with the mobile device. The positional feature may beevaluated using a classifier (e.g., a database containing values used tocorrelate the positional feature to a positional state) to identify apositional state (e.g., a location and/or environment) of the mobiledevice. In an example, an operating characteristic (e.g., a powercharacteristic, a notification characteristic, a data usagecharacteristic, a processing characteristic, an application managementcharacteristic, etc.) of the mobile device may be adjusted based on thepositional state of the mobile device. The adjusting the operatingcharacteristic may comprise modifying an operation of at least one of adisplay, an audio component, a vibrator, a processor, a camera, or acommunication module of the mobile device.

As provided herein, the positional state of a mobile device may beidentified through the utilization of one or more sensors present inmost mobile devices, such as speakers and/or microphones. Thus, noadditional sensors need to be incorporated into the mobile device, whichmay reduce manufacturing costs (e.g., a cost of additional sensorsand/or incorporating the additional sensors into the mobile device),design limitations (e.g., space limitations associated with a layout ofthe mobile device), and/or power consumption associated with operatingadditional sensors. The positional state of the mobile device may beutilized to adjust an operating characteristic (e.g., powercharacteristics, data usage characteristics, notificationcharacteristics, etc.) of the mobile device to enhance the user'sexperience (e.g., providing an audio notification, as opposed to avibration notification, while the mobile device is in a user's pocket sothat the user has a higher likelihood of noticing a notification), aswell as reduce power consumption (e.g., increasing battery life),network usage (e.g., bandwidth), and/or computing resources otherwisewasted during periods of inactivity by the user (e.g., operating themobile device in a high performance mode while the mobile device is in apocket of the user may waste of battery life). Accordingly, theoperating efficiency, functionality, and/or power consumption of themobile device may be improved (e.g., reduce the amount ofdata/bandwidth/battery used when the mobile device is in a bag, pocket,etc.; increase the processing speed of the mobile device when the mobiledevice is being held by the user; etc.).

An embodiment of identifying a positional state of a mobile device isillustrated by an example method 400 of FIG. 4. At 402, the methodstarts. At 404, an output audio pulse may be generated from a speaker ofa mobile device (e.g., smartphone, tablet, personal digital assistant,smartwatch, etc.). In an example, the output audio pulse may begenerated by emitting the output audio pulse at an ultrasonic frequency,an infrasonic frequency, or any other frequency. In an example, theoutput audio pulse may comprise a modulated signal. In an example, themodulated signal may be generated by a non-coherent modulation processor a coherent modulation process. In an example, the output audio pulsemay be generated periodically (e.g., once every second, once everyminute, once every 10 minutes, etc.).

At 406, an input audio pulse, corresponding to the output audio pulse,may be detected utilizing a microphone of the mobile device. In anexample, the output audio pulse emitted by the speaker may be distortedby an environment proximate the mobile device before being detected bythe microphone, as the input audio pulse. The distortion may comprise adelay attribute (e.g., time between when the output audio pulse isemitted and the input audio pulse is detected, etc.), a globalattenuation, and/or a frequency attenuation (e.g., how strongly an audiopulse decreases as a function of a frequency, etc.). For example, theinput audio pulse may correspond to a reflection (e.g., echo) of theoutput audio pulse off a surface of an object (e.g., an inside of a bag,a hand of a user, etc.).

At 408, the output audio pulse and the input audio pulse may beevaluated to determine a positional feature associated with the mobiledevice. In an example, the positional feature may correspond to aconvolution of the output audio pulse and a set of conditions (e.g., asurrounding environment) surrounding the mobile device. In an example,evaluating the output audio pulse and the input audio pulse may comprisecomparing an output amplitude of the output audio pulse with an inputamplitude of the input audio pulse to determine the positional feature.In another example, evaluating the output audio pulse and the inputaudio pulse may comprise identifying the positional feature based upon atime period between the generation of the output audio pulse and thedetection of the input audio pulse. In another example, the positionalfeature may be determined by evaluating one or more attributes betweenthe output audio pulse and the input audio pulse, such as by a time offlight analysis (e.g., a method of measuring the time required for apulse to travel a distance through a medium), a frequency responseanalysis, etc.

At 410, the positional feature may be evaluated utilizing a classifierto identify a positional state of the mobile device. In an example, thepositional state may indicate a location (e.g., in a bag, in a car,etc.) and/or an activity (e.g. running, walking, being stationary,etc.). In an example, the positional state may indicate that the mobiledevice is contained within a pocket, contained within a bag (e.g., apurse), laying on a surface in a room (e.g., on a desk in an office),located within a vehicle, being interact with by a user, stationary,located in an outdoor area, being held by the user (e.g., in the hand ofthe user), etc.

In an example, content (e.g., a recommendation of a close hiking trail,an advertisement for hiking boots, an incoming message, an incomingphone call, etc.) may be provided to the user through the mobile deviceand/or a second device (e.g., a smart watch, a tablet, a personalcomputer, a smart television, a gaming console, etc.) based upon anawareness threshold. The awareness threshold correspond to a thresholdawareness such that a particular type of notification on a particulardevice may be noticed by the user, which may be based upon distancebetween the user and a device, a location of the device, an activity ofthe user, etc. For example, responsive to the positional stateindicating a user awareness of the mobile device exceeding the awarenessthreshold (e.g., the user is holding the phone within the user's hand),content may be provided to the user through the mobile device (e.g., theuser may notice a visual recommendation). In another example, responsiveto the user awareness of the mobile device not exceeding the awarenessthreshold (e.g., the user is playing soccer with the phone in the user'spocket), content may be provided to the user through the second device(e.g., a smartwatch that the user may easily check while playingsoccer). For example, an awareness threshold may be a value of 5 on ascale of 1-10, or any other value on any other scale. If a smartphone isheld in hand of the user, the user awareness may be a 10 and the contentmay be displayed on the smartphone. If the smartphone is across a roomfrom the user on a table, the user awareness may be a 3 and the contentmay be displayed on a smartwatch worn by the user.

In an example, responsive to identifying the positional state of themobile device, user feedback may be obtained from the user. In anexample, the user feedback may be evaluated to determine if thepositional state, identified by the classifier, was correct and/orwhether the user approved of an action taken based upon the positionalstate (e.g., muting the mobile device, providing a hiking trailrecommendation, etc.). In an example, the user feedback may be utilizedto modify and/or train the classifier. For example, audiocharacteristics and/or other features, utilized by the classifier todetermine positional states, may be modified based upon the userfeedback.

In an example, an operating characteristic of the mobile device may beadjusted based on the positional state of the mobile device. In anexample, an operational controller may adjust one or more operatingcharacteristics based on the positional state. For example, an operationof at least one of a display, an audio component, a vibrator, aprocessor, a camera, or a communication module (e.g., a cellularconnection module, a Wi-Fi module, a Bluetooth module, etc.) of themobile device may be modified, such as turned on, turned off, oradjusted (e.g., adjust a screen brightness). In an example, theoperating characteristic may comprise a power characteristic (e.g., aperformance mode, etc.), a notification characteristic (e.g., anotification type such as a text message notification, an audionotification, an email notification, a social network post notification,a vibration notification, and/or any other means of communicatinginformation, such as recommendations to the user through the mobiledevice), a data usage characteristic, a processing characteristic,and/or an application management characteristic (e.g., a video app maybe placed into a suspended state based upon a determination that themobile device is within a briefcase). In an example, adjusting anoperating characteristic may comprise adjusting a data usage function ofan application operating on the mobile device and/or adjusting aperformance mode of the mobile device.

In an example, adjusting the notification characteristic may compriseadjusting a notification type, a volume level of an audio notification,a vibration level of vibration notification, and/or a notificationduration based upon the positional state of the mobile device. Thenotification type may comprise an audio notification (e.g., a ringtone,a chime, etc.), a visual notification (e.g., a banner notification, acamera flash, etc.). For example, if the positional state is in a bag,the notification type may be adjusted to an audio notification. Inanother example, if the positional state is face up on a table, thenotification type may be adjusted to a visual notification.

In an example, responsive to the positional state indicating that themobile device is contained within a container, a bag, or a pocket, themobile device may be transitioned from a first power state (e.g., a highperformance mode) to a second power state (e.g., a power save mode). Thesecond power state may have a lower power consumption than the firstpower state, which may conserve battery consumption of the mobiledevice.

In an example, the user may define what operating characteristicadjustments to make for various positional states of the mobile device,which may be used to generate an operational profile. The operationalprofile may comprise a set of operating characteristics, such asoperating characteristics defined by the user, for various positionalstates. In an example, responsive to the positional state indicatingthat the mobile device is located in an outdoor area, the operationalprofile may be assessed to determine that a notification characteristicis to be adjusted to an audio notification type.

In an example, user feedback, corresponding to the adjustment of theoperating characteristic (e.g., entering a power save mode, turning aWi-Fi receiver off, etc.), may be obtained. For example, responsive toadjusting the performance mode of the mobile device to a power save modebased upon the mobile device being within a car, user feedback may berequested from the user to determine whether to subsequently adjust theperformance mode when the mobile device is within a car. In an example,the classifier and/or an operational controller may be trained basedupon the user feedback (e.g., an instruction to not put the mobiledevice into the power save mode if the user feedback indicates anegative reaction to the power save mode). In an example, machinelearning may be utilized to train the classifier and/or the operationalcontroller based upon the user feedback. For example, if the userperiodically changes the notification type from a visual notification toan audio notification prior to putting the mobile device in a pocket,the operational controller may be trained to adjust from using visualnotification to using audio notifications based upon the mobile devicebeing contained in a pocket.

In an example, user interest information may be identified based uponthe positional state of the mobile device. The user interest informationmay correspond to an interest and/or an activity of the user (e.g.,business travel with a briefcase, running, playing soccer, playing theguitar, etc.). The user interest information may be utilized to obtaincontent corresponding to the user interest information (e.g., anadvertisement for running shoes based upon a positional state indicatingthe user is outside and social media content indicating the user enjoysrunning). The content may be provided to the mobile device.

In an example, a second positional feature may comprise secondary sensorinformation from a second sensor. In an example, the second sensor maycomprise a motion sensor, such as an accelerometer, a light sensor, aglobal positioning sensor, a proximity sensor, a time sensor (e.g., aclock), a gyroscope, a temperature sensor, and/or any other type ofsensor. In an example, the classifier may be utilized to identify apositional state of the mobile device by evaluating the positionalfeature and the second positional feature (e.g. the positional featuremay identify that the mobile device is in the pocket of the user and thesecond positional feature, corresponding to secondary information froman accelerometer, may identify that the user is out on a run with themobile device).

In an example, content (e.g., an advertisement from an advertisementrepository, music from a music application, a news article from a newsapplication, etc.) may be provided to the user through a recommendation.For example, the recommendation may be generated for content based uponthe positional state of the mobile device. A recommendation notificationtype (e.g., an audio notification, a vibration notification, a visualnotification, etc.) for the recommendation may be selected based uponthe positional state. The recommendation may be provided to the mobiledevice according to the recommendation notification type. In an example,the recommendation notification type may comprises an audionotification, a vibration notification, a text message, a visualnotification, an email, a video notification, a push notification,display of an application user interface, etc. In an example, therecommendation of content may be based upon the positional state and/ora user profile. For example, if the user is outdoors running, rock musiccontent may be recommended based upon the user running and the userprofile indicating that the user likes rock music.

In an example, an activity and/or activity level of the user may bedetermined based upon the positional state of the mobile device over aperiod of time. In an example, the activity and/or activity level of theuser may be utilized by a mobile application. For example, a fitnessapplication may send the user a notification indicating that an activitylevel of the user is below a threshold activity level (e.g. the user mayhave been sitting at a desk for 5 hours). In another example, thefitness application may send the user a notification regarding anactivity, such as a notification that the user has been walking for 20minutes based upon the positional state of the mobile device changingfor 20 minutes.

FIGS. 5A-5B illustrate an example of a system 500, for identifying apositional state 512 of a mobile device 516 (e.g., a smart phone). Thesystem 500 may comprise a positional state identification component 502and/or a content provider component 514. In an example, the positionalstate identification component 502 may be configured to generate anoutput audio pulse 504 (e.g., an ultrasonic pulse, an infrasonicfrequency, etc.) from a speaker 518 of the mobile device 516. Thepositional state identification component 502 may detect an input audiopulse 506, corresponding to the output audio pulse 504, utilizing amicrophone 520 of the mobile device 516. In an example, the output audiopulse 504 may be reflected off a surface 526, such as of a bag 524, toform the input audio pulse 506 detected by the microphone 520 of themobile device 516, as illustrated in FIG. 5B.

The positional state identification component 502 may evaluate theoutput audio pulse 504 and the input audio pulse 506 to determine apositional feature 508 associated with the mobile device 516. In anexample, the output audio pulse 504 and the input audio pulse 506 may beevaluated based upon an analysis of an output amplitude of the outputaudio pulse 504 and an input amplitude of the input audio pulse 506, anoutput frequency of the output audio pulse 504 and an input frequency ofthe input audio pulse 506, and/or a time period between the generationof the output audio pulse 504 and the detection of the input audio pulse506.

The positional state identification component 502 may evaluate thepositional feature 508 utilizing a classifier 510 to identifying thepositional state 512 (e.g., contained in a pocket, in a car, on a table,etc.) of the mobile device 516. In an example, the positional stateidentification component 502 may be configured to adjust an operatingcharacteristic (e.g., a power characteristic, a notificationcharacteristic, a data usage characteristic, etc.) of the mobile device516 based on the positional state of the mobile device 516. The contentprovider component 514 may be configured to provide content to themobile device 516 based upon the positional state 512. In an example,the content provider component 514 may provide the content to the userthrough the mobile device 516 according to a first content notificationtype (e.g., an email format where the mobile device will vibrate but notding when the email is received based upon the appears to be in ameeting) in response to the positional state 512 corresponding to thefirst content notification type (e.g., visual notification of an email).

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a system 600 for identifying apositional state of a smartphone 604, where the smartphone 604 isidentified as being contained within a pocket 606 of a user 608. In anexample, a positional state identification component 602 may beconfigured to generate an output audio pulse from a speaker 610 of thesmartphone 604. The positional state identification component 602 may beconfigured to detect an input audio pulse, corresponding to the outputaudio pulse, utilizing a microphone 612 of the smartphone 604. In anexample, the input audio pulse is generated based upon the output audiopulse reflecting off the pocket 606. The output audio pulse and theinput audio pulse may be evaluated by the positional stateidentification component 602 to determine a positional featureassociated with the smartphone 604. The positional state identificationcomponent 602 may evaluate the positional feature (e.g., correspondingto a convolution of an output wave, of the output audio pulse, andconditions associated with a contact surface, such as the pocket 606)utilizing a classifier to identify the positional state corresponding tothe smartphone 604 being contained within the pocket 606 of the user608. In an example, responsive to the smartphone 604 being containedwithin the pocket 606, a content provider component 614 may beconfigured to adjust a notification type of the smartphone 604 to avibration notification. For example, if the user 608 receives a textmessage with the smartphone 604 being contained within the pocket 606,the user 608 may be notified through a vibrational notification producedby the smartphone 604.

FIGS. 7A-7C illustrate examples of system 700 for adjusting notificationcharacteristics based upon a positional state of the tablet 704. FIG. 7Aillustrates an example 701 of a positional state identificationcomponent 702 identifying the positional state of the tablet 704 asbeing on a surface of a desk 708. Responsive to the positional stateidentification component 702 indicating that the positional state of thetablet 704 as being on the surface of the desk 708, the tablet 704 maybe transitioned from an audible notification mode to a visualnotification mode. In an example, a user may prefer to have the tablet704 display a visual notification 706 when a screen of the tablet 704 isviewable (e.g., exceeding an awareness threshold) from the desk 708.

FIG. 7B illustrates an example 703 of the positional stateidentification component 702 identifying a second positional state ofthe tablet 704 as being in a drawer 712 of the desk 708. Responsive tothe positional state identification component 702 indicating that thesecond positional state of the tablet 704 as being in the drawer 712 ofthe desk 708, the tablet 704 may be transitioned from a visualnotification mode to an audio notification mode (e.g., based upon thetablet 704 not exceeding an awareness threshold with respect to the userbecause the tablet is not visible to the user while in the drawer 712).In an example, an audio notification 714 (e.g., a ringtone, a beep, achime, etc.) may be produced (e.g., through a speaker) by the tablet 704in response to receiving content, such as a text message. Accordingly,even if the tablet 704 is set to produce visual notifications, thepositional state identification component 702 may adjust thenotification type to audio notifications so that the user may have ahigher likelihood of receiving notification of the text message.

FIG. 7C illustrates an example 705 of a positional state identificationcomponent 702 identifying a third positional state of the tablet 704 asbeing in the drawer 712 within the desk 708. Responsive to thepositional state identification component 702 identifying the thirdpositional state of the tablet 704 as being in the drawer 712, thetablet 704 and/or a content provider may be configured to connect to asecond device, such as a personal computer 710. In an example, contentobtained by the tablet 704, such as emails, text messages, incomingcalls, etc., may be provided to the user through the personal computer710. In an example, the tablet 704 may be configured to connect to thepersonal computer 710 based upon the tablet 704 not satisfying anawareness threshold (e.g., in response to the drawer 712 being in aclosed position).

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of system 800 for identifying a positionalstate of a smartphone 804, where the smartphone 804 is being containedwithin a car 808. In an example, a positional state identificationcomponent 802 may identify the positional state of the smartphone 804 asbeing contained within the car 808 based upon an evaluation of an inputaudio pulse generated by a speaker of the smartphone 804 and an outputaudio pulse detected by a microphone of the smartphone 804. Thepositional state identification component 802 may adjust a powercharacteristic, such as a power mode type of the smartphone 804, basedupon the smartphone 804 being within the car 808. For example, thepositional state identification component 802 may adjust the power modetype of the smartphone 804 from a higher power consumption mode to alower power consumption mode to conserve system resources whiletraveling in the car 808. In an example, a data usage characteristic, aprocessing characteristic, and/or an application managementcharacteristic may also be adjusted from a higher usage mode (e.g., anormal operating mode) to a lower usage mode (e.g., a sleep mode) inorder to mitigate wasting system resources such as battery life (e.g., alower usage mode may reduce the utilization of cellular data by reducingthe frequency with which an application, such as an email app, checksfor updates; the lower usage mode may reduce the processing powerallocated to a mobile application running in a background mode; etc.).

FIGS. 9A-9B illustrate examples of a system 900 for identifying apositional state of a smartphone 904. For example, a positional stateidentification component 902 may identify a positional state of thesmartphone 904 as being comprised within a pocket of a user 906 that ismoving according to a pattern indicative of a person playing soccer. Acontent provider component may query an advertisement repository 908comprising advertisements (e.g., a shoe advertisements 910, a guitaradvertisement 912, a videogame advertisement 914, a pet supplyadvertisement 916, and/or other advertisements not illustrated) or mayquery any other content repository (e.g., a website, a social network,etc.) to identify content, such as the shoe advertisement 910, that maybe relevant to the user 906 playing soccer. In this way, relevantcontent, such as the shoe advertisement 910, may be provided to the user906, such as on a display 920 of the smartphone 904

FIG. 10 is an illustration of a scenario 1000 involving an examplenontransitory memory device 1002. The nontransitory memory device 1002may comprise instructions that when executed perform at least some ofthe provisions herein. The nontransitory memory device may comprise amemory semiconductor (e.g., a semiconductor utilizing static randomaccess memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), and/orsynchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM) technologies), aplatter of a hard disk drive, a flash memory device, or a magnetic oroptical disc (such as a CD, DVD, or floppy disk). The examplenontransitory memory device 1002 stores computer-readable data 1004that, when subjected to reading 1006 by a reader 1010 of a device 1008(e.g., a read head of a hard disk drive, or a read operation invoked ona solid-state storage device), express processor-executable instructions1012. In some embodiments, the processor-executable instructions, whenexecuted on a processor 1016 of the device 1008, are configured toperform a method, such as at least some of the example method 400 ofFIG. 4, for example. In some embodiments, the processor-executableinstructions, when executed on the processor 1016 of the device 1008,are configured to implement a system, such as at least some of theexample system 500 of FIGS. 5A-5B, at least some of the example system600 of FIG. 6, at least some of example system 700 of FIGS. 7A-7C, atleast some of the example system 800 of FIG. 8, and/or at least some ofexample system 900 of FIGS. 9A-9B, for example.

3. Usage of Terms

As used in this application, “component,” “module,” “system”,“interface”, and/or the like are generally intended to refer to acomputer-related entity, either hardware, a combination of hardware andsoftware, software, or software in execution. For example, a componentmay be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, aprocessor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program,and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application runningon a controller and the controller can be a component. One or morecomponents may reside within a process and/or thread of execution and acomponent may be localized on one computer and/or distributed betweentwo or more computers.

Unless specified otherwise, “first,” “second,” and/or the like are notintended to imply a temporal aspect, a spatial aspect, an ordering, etc.Rather, such terms are merely used as identifiers, names, etc. forfeatures, elements, items, etc. For example, a first object and a secondobject generally correspond to object A and object B or two different ortwo identical objects or the same object.

Moreover, “example” is used herein to mean serving as an example,instance, illustration, etc., and not necessarily as advantageous. Asused herein, “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than anexclusive “or”. In addition, “a” and “an” as used in this applicationare generally be construed to mean “one or more” unless specifiedotherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singular form. Also,at least one of A and B and/or the like generally means A or B or both Aand B. Furthermore, to the extent that “includes”, “having”, “has”,“with”, and/or variants thereof are used in either the detaileddescription or the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in amanner similar to the term “comprising”.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed asexample forms of implementing at least some of the claims.

Furthermore, the claimed subject matter may be implemented as a method,apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programming and/orengineering techniques to produce software, firmware, hardware, or anycombination thereof to control a computer to implement the disclosedsubject matter. The term “article of manufacture” as used herein isintended to encompass a computer program accessible from anycomputer-readable device, carrier, or media. Of course, manymodifications may be made to this configuration without departing fromthe scope or spirit of the claimed subject matter.

Various operations of embodiments are provided herein. In an embodiment,one or more of the operations described may constitute computer readableinstructions stored on one or more computer readable media, which ifexecuted by a computing device, will cause the computing device toperform the operations described. The order in which some or all of theoperations are described should not be construed as to imply that theseoperations are necessarily order dependent. Alternative ordering will beappreciated by one skilled in the art having the benefit of thisdescription. Further, it will be understood that not all operations arenecessarily present in each embodiment provided herein. Also, it will beunderstood that not all operations are necessary in some embodiments.

Also, although the disclosure has been shown and described with respectto one or more implementations, equivalent alterations and modificationswill occur to others skilled in the art based upon a reading andunderstanding of this specification and the annexed drawings. Thedisclosure includes all such modifications and alterations and islimited only by the scope of the following claims. In particular regardto the various functions performed by the above described components(e.g., elements, resources, etc.), the terms used to describe suchcomponents are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, toany component which performs the specified function of the describedcomponent (e.g., that is functionally equivalent), even though notstructurally equivalent to the disclosed structure. In addition, while aparticular feature of the disclosure may have been disclosed withrespect to only one of several implementations, such feature may becombined with one or more other features of the other implementations asmay be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for identifying a positional state of amobile device, comprising: generating an output audio pulse from aspeaker of a mobile device; detecting an input audio pulse,corresponding to the output audio pulse, utilizing a microphone of themobile device; evaluating the output audio pulse and the input audiopulse to determine a positional feature associated with the mobiledevice; and evaluating the positional feature utilizing a classifier todetermine a positional state of the mobile device indicative of themobile device lying on a surface.
 2. The method of claim 1, comprising:adjusting an operating characteristic of the mobile device based uponthe positional state of the mobile device.
 3. The method of claim 2, theadjusting an operating characteristic comprising: modifying an operationof at least one of a display, an audio component, a vibrator, aprocessor, a camera, or a communication module of the mobile device. 4.The method of claim 1, the positional state indicating at least one of:the mobile device being contained within a bag; the mobile device beinglocated within a vehicle; the mobile device is being interact with by auser; the mobile device is stationary; the mobile device is notstationary; or the mobile device being located in an outdoor area. 5.The method of claim 2, the operating characteristic comprising at leastone of: a power characteristic, a notification characteristic, a datausage characteristic, a processing characteristic, or an applicationmanagement characteristic.
 6. The method of claim 2, the adjusting anoperating characteristic comprising: adjusting at least one of anotification type of an notification, a volume level of an audionotification, or a vibration level of a vibration notification.
 7. Themethod of claim 2, the adjusting an operating characteristic comprising:adjusting a performance mode of the mobile device.
 8. The method ofclaim 2, the adjusting an operating characteristic comprising: adjustinga data usage function of an application operating on the mobile device.9. The method of claim 1, comprising: responsive to the positional stateindicating that the mobile device is contained within at least one of acontainer, or a bag, transitioning the mobile device from a first powerstate to a second power state, the second power state having lower powerconsumption than the first power state.
 10. The method of claim 1,comprising: generating a recommendation for content based upon thepositional state; selecting a recommendation notification type basedupon the positional state; and providing the recommendation to themobile device according to the recommendation notification type.
 11. Themethod of claim 10, the recommendation notification type comprising atleast one of an audio notification, a vibration notification, a textmessage, a visual notification, an email, a video notification, a pushnotification, or display of an application user interface.
 12. Themethod of claim 2, comprising: obtaining user feedback, from the user,corresponding to adjustment of the operating characteristic; andtraining the classifier based upon the user feedback.
 13. The method ofclaim 1, comprising: identifying user interest information based uponthe positional state, the user interest information corresponding atleast one of an interest of the user or an activity of the user;obtaining content corresponding to the user interest information; andproviding the content to the mobile device.
 14. The method of claim 1,the evaluating the output audio pulse and the input audio pulsecomprising at least one of: comparing an output amplitude of the outputaudio pulse with an input amplitude of the input audio pulse todetermine the positional feature; or identifying the positional featurebased upon a time period between generation of the output audio pulseand detection of the input audio pulse.
 15. The method of claim 1, theoutput audio pulse comprising a modulated signal.
 16. The method ofclaim 1, the generating the output audio pulse comprising: emitting theoutput audio pulse at least one of an ultrasonic frequency or aninfrasonic frequency.
 17. The method of claim 1, comprising: responsiveto the positional state indicating a user awareness of the mobile deviceexceeding an awareness threshold, providing content to the user throughthe mobile device; and responsive to the user awareness of the mobiledevice not exceeding the awareness threshold, providing content to theuser through a second device.
 18. A system for identifying a positionalstate of a mobile device, comprising: a positional state identificationcomponent configured to: generate an output audio pulse from a speakerof a mobile device; detect an input audio pulse, corresponding to theoutput audio pulse, utilizing a microphone of the mobile device;evaluate, by a time of flight analysis, the output audio pulse and theinput audio pulse to determine a positional feature associated with themobile device, the evaluating comprising: responsive to the time offlight analysis indicating a first amount of time for a pulse to travela distance, determining that the pulse is travelling through a firstmedium; and responsive to the time of flight analysis indicating asecond amount of time for the pulse to travel the distance, determiningthat the pulse is travelling through a second medium; and evaluate thepositional feature utilizing a classifier to identify a positional stateof the mobile device; and a content provider component configured to:provide content to the mobile device based upon the positional state.19. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructionswhich when executed perform a method for identifying a positional stateof a mobile device, comprising: generating an output audio pulse from aspeaker of a mobile device; detecting an input audio pulse,corresponding to the output audio pulse, utilizing a microphone of themobile device; evaluating the output audio pulse and the input audiopulse to determine a positional feature associated with the mobiledevice; evaluating the positional feature utilizing a classifier toidentifying a positional state of the mobile device; responsive to thepositional state identified by the classifier corresponding to themobile device being held in a hand of a user, providing content to theuser according to a first content notification type; and responsive tothe positional state identified by the classifier corresponding to themobile device not being held in the hand of the user, providing thecontent to the user according to a second content notification type.